Read The Cook's Illustrated Cookbook Online
Authors: The Editors at America's Test Kitchen
Tags: #Cooking
The Cook's Illustrated Cookbook (91 page)
WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS
In theory, garlic shrimp pasta has all the makings of an ideal weeknight meal—just toss a few quick-cooking ingredients with boiled dried pasta. In reality, however, delicate shrimp cooks fast, which translates to overcooked in a matter of seconds. Meanwhile, volatile garlic can become overbearing or bitter (or simply disappear), depending on how it’s treated. To get everything we wanted—al dente pasta and moist shrimp bound by a supple sauce infused with a deep garlic flavor—we cut the shrimp in thirds before marinating them with minced garlic. Then we cooked whole garlic cloves in our cooking oil, infusing it with garlic flavor, before adding the shrimp to the pan. To deglaze the pan, we liked the clean flavor of vermouth; bottled clam juice added complexity to the sauce. To get the sauce for our shrimp and pasta recipe to cling to the pasta, we simply stirred flour into the oil as a thickener just before adding the liquid and tossed in some cold butter to finish.
SERVES 4
Marinate the shrimp while you prepare the remaining ingredients. Use the smaller amount of red pepper flakes for a milder sauce.
1 | pound large shrimp (31 to 40 per pound), peeled, deveined, and each shrimp cut into 3 pieces |
3 | tablespoons olive oil |
9 | garlic cloves, peeled, 5 cloves minced and 4 cloves smashed |
Salt and pepper | |
1 | pound penne, ziti, or other short, tubular pasta |
¹⁄ | teaspoon red pepper flakes |
2 | teaspoons all-purpose flour |
¹⁄ | cup dry vermouth or white wine |
³⁄ | cup bottled clam juice |
¹⁄ | cup chopped fresh parsley |
3 | tablespoons unsalted butter |
1 | teaspoon lemon juice plus lemon wedges |
1.
Combine shrimp, 1 tablespoon oil, one-third of minced garlic, and ¹⁄
4
teaspoon salt in bowl. Let shrimp marinate at room temperature for 20 minutes.
2.
Heat smashed garlic and remaining 2 tablespoons oil in 12-inch skillet over medium-low heat, stirring often, until garlic turns golden but not brown, 4 to 7 minutes. Off heat, remove garlic with slotted spoon and discard. Set skillet with oil aside.
3.
Bring 4 quarts water to boil in large pot. Add pasta and 1 tablespoon salt and cook, stirring often, until al dente. Reserve ¹⁄
2
cup cooking water, then drain pasta and return it to pot.
4.
While pasta cooks, return skillet to medium heat. Add shrimp along with marinade, spread into even layer, and cook, without stirring, until oil starts to bubble gently, 1 to 2 minutes. Stir shrimp and continue to cook until almost cooked through, about 1 minute longer. Remove shrimp with slotted spoon and transfer to clean bowl. Add remaining minced garlic and pepper flakes to skillet and cook over medium heat until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add flour and cook, stirring constantly, for 1 minute. Slowly whisk in vermouth and cook for 1 minute. Stir in clam juice and parsley and cook until mixture starts to thicken, 1 to 2 minutes. Off heat, whisk in butter until melted, then stir in lemon juice.
5.
Add shrimp and sauce to pasta and toss to combine. Add reserved cooking water as needed to adjust consistency. Season with pepper to taste. Serve immediately, passing lemon wedges separately.
WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS
Pasta with clam sauce is an easy enough dish made of simple enough ingredients. To be at its best, though, it must be made with fresh ingredients, especially the clams—we like littlenecks or cherrystones. As for the method, we cooked the littlenecks first, just until they gave up their juices, then removed them from the pan (when overcooked, clams get tough). We then recombined the clams with the sauce at the end of cooking just enough to reheat them. For flavor, white wine, as well as just a couple of diced tomatoes (which also helped to color the dish), complemented the clams perfectly.
SERVES 4
Any small clams, such as littlenecks or cherrystones, work well in this recipe.
4 | pounds littleneck or cherrystone clams, scrubbed |
¹⁄ | cup dry white wine |
Pinch cayenne pepper | |
¹⁄ | cup extra-virgin olive oil |
2 | garlic cloves, minced |
2 | plum tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and minced |
Salt and pepper | |
1 | pound spaghetti or linguine |
³⁄ | cup chopped fresh parsley |
1.
Bring clams, wine, and cayenne to boil in 12-inch straight-sided sauté pan, cover, and cook, shaking pan occasionally, for 5 minutes. Stir clams thoroughly, cover, and continue to cook until they just begin to open, 2 to 5 minutes longer. As clams open, remove them with slotted spoon and transfer to bowl. Discard any unopened clams.
2.
Drain steaming liquid through fine-mesh strainer lined with coffee filter, avoiding any gritty sediment that has settled on bottom of pan. Measure out and reserve 1 cup of liquid; set aside. (If necessary, add water to make 1 cup.) Wipe out skillet with paper towels.
3.
Heat oil and garlic in now-empty pan over medium heat. Cook, stirring often, until garlic turns golden but not brown, about 3 minutes. Stir in tomatoes, increase heat to medium-high, and cook until tomatoes soften, about 2 minutes. Stir in littlenecks, cover, and cook until all clams are completely opened, about 2 minutes.
4.
Meanwhile, bring 4 quarts water to boil in large pot. Add pasta and 1 tablespoon salt and cook, stirring often, until al dente. Drain pasta and return it to pot. Add sauce and reserved clam steaming liquid to pasta and cook over medium heat, tossing to combine, until flavors meld, about 30 seconds. Stir in parsley and season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately.
WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS
When quick-cooking mussels are paired with pasta, a meal can be on the table in under 30 minutes. To start, we steamed the mussels in white wine for maximum flavor. We reserved the cooking liquid, making sure to discard the gritty sediment that had settled to the bottom of the pan. Sautéed garlic added another layer of flavor to our mussels, while red pepper flakes gave it bite, and lemon imparted a bright lift. Tossed with hot spaghetti or linguine, this meal is both fast and full of flavor.
SERVES 4
Serve this dish with crusty bread to help soak up the flavorful sauce.
1 | pound mussels, scrubbed and debearded |
¹⁄ | cup dry white wine |
1 | tablespoon olive oil |
2 | garlic cloves, minced |
¹⁄ | teaspoon red pepper flakes |
1 | teaspoon grated lemon zest plus 2 tablespoons juice |
1 | pound spaghetti or linguine
|
Salt | |
2 | tablespoons minced fresh parsley |
1.
Bring mussels and wine to boil in 12-inch straight-sided sauté pan, cover, and cook, shaking pan occasionally, until mussels open, about 5 minutes. As mussels open, remove them with slotted spoon and transfer to bowl. Discard any unopened mussels. (If desired, remove mussels from shells.) Drain steaming liquid through fine-mesh strainer lined with coffee filter, avoiding any gritty sediment that has settled on bottom of pan. Reserve liquid and set aside. Wipe out skillet with paper towels.
2.
Heat oil, garlic, and pepper flakes in now-empty pan over medium heat. Cook, stirring often, until garlic turns golden but not brown, about 3 minutes. Stir in reserved mussel steaming liquid, lemon zest, and lemon juice, bring to simmer, and cook until flavors meld, 3 to 4 minutes. Stir in mussels, cover, and cook until heated through, about 2 minutes.
3.
Meanwhile, bring 4 quarts water to boil in large pot. Add pasta and 1 tablespoon salt and cook, stirring often, until al dente. Reserve ¹⁄
2
cup cooking water, then drain pasta and return it to pot. Add sauce to pasta and toss to combine. Add reserved cooking water as needed to adjust consistency. Stir in parsley and season with salt to taste. Serve immediately.
Mussels often contain a weedy beard protruding from the crack between the two shells. It’s fairly small and can be difficult to tug out of place. To remove it easily, trap the beard between the side of a small knife and your thumb and pull to remove it. The flat surface of a paring knife gives you some leverage to remove the beard.
WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS
Tomato sauce takes on a whole new dimension when you add tuna and olives to the mix. While tuna packed in water made a decent sauce, we found that tuna packed in olive oil gave us a sauce with richer flavor. Green olives trumped black with their bright flavor and meaty texture. As for the pasta, farfalle or fusilli perfectly captured the chunky sauce for flavor in every forkful.
